Enhancing customer satisfaction, personnel satisfaction and company reputation with total quality management: combining traditional and new views

Abstract

PurposeThis study investigates the effect of total quality management (TQM) on customer satisfaction, personnel satisfaction and company reputation.Design/methodology/approachThe study results rely on a structured survey conducted among an extensive sample of Finnish SMEs. In addition to the examination of the relationship between TQM and company performance in terms of customer satisfaction, personnel satisfaction and company reputation, the study takes a view on the possible effects of the industry, the company size and the certified quality system.FindingsThe results reveal that two TQM dimensions, namely Customer Focus and Product Management, were related to companies' customer satisfaction, whereas four TQM dimensions, namely Management/leadership, Customer Focus, Personnel Management and Risk Management, were related to personnel satisfaction. None of the TQM dimensions were related to company reputation. The control variables – the industry, the company size and the certified quality system – were not found to affect customer satisfaction, personnel satisfaction or company reputation.Originality/valueMost previous studies have been based on traditional TQM classification and have not shown the effects of the latest TQM-related dimensions. Compared to previous studies, this work integrates risk management, digitization, system deployment efficiency and stakeholder management into TQM, which has not been implemented in any previous study. The roles of hard and soft TQM factors have been carefully considered in this study; thus, the study does not place too much emphasis on either direction but provides a balanced picture of the performance of the management systems studied. Although there are studies on the effects of TQM on personnel satisfaction, customer satisfaction and reputation, they are based on a much narrower definition of TQM than that in this study. The business environment is constantly changing, but only a few studies have been conducted to extend the TQM approach. This has led to duplication of studies, and the effects of performance-relevant procedures have not been extensively studied in the past as part of TQM. Therefore, the concept of this study brings significant added value to TQM research and returns the TQM concept to the overall level while considering the requirements of the ISO 9001: 2015 and EFQM 2019 quality standards. The study also considers the effects of ISO 9001 certification and EFQM requirements.

Agile SHRM practices and employee-organisational outcomes during new normal: evidence from India and Thailand

“…Due to cross-sectional nature of our research design, we used multiple approaches to minimise common method bias (CMB) and we are confident that it was not an issue for our study. The potential problem of common method bias was reduced through procedural methods such as developing variables through exhaustive review of literature, maintaining anonymity, providing thinking time to respond to the items of the questionnaire (Lepist€ o et al, 2022;Memon et al, 2020) as well through statistical methods where the variance inflation factor (VIF) was measured along with the measurement properties of the model to nullify the impact of common bias (Qalati et al, 2021). Further, we validated the items in consultation with four senior HR managers and three researchers in cross-cultural HRM field before conducting the survey.…”

“…Due to cross-sectional nature of our research design, we used multiple approaches to minimise common method bias (CMB) and we are confident that it was not an issue for our study. The potential problem of common method bias was reduced through procedural methods such as developing variables through exhaustive review of literature, maintaining anonymity, providing thinking time to respond to the items of the questionnaire (Lepistö et al. , 2022; Memon et al.…”

Development, validation and verification of innovative integrated Kaizen philosophy (CI) framework and its implementation procedure for enhancing manufacturing industries sustainable competitiveness

“…These are customer focus, process management, supplier quality involvement and cross-functional product design. Besides, the most recent research work carried-out by Lepist€ o et al (2022) identified the Nobel approaches to TQM dimensions: risk management, stakeholder management, digitalization and system deployment in addition to the traditional approach to TQM dimensions such as, management/leadership, data and reporting, customer and personnel focus, process management, products/service improvement, procurement and materials, continuous improvement. Dametew et al (2020) also identified three SCM unique practices, namely procurement; distribution and material handling; internal logistics management.…”

“…The joint implementation of the aforementioned initiatives is seen as a natural alignment through their similar operations management approach (Nandurkar et al, 2014;Hailu et al, 2018a;Sisay et al, 2021). For example, LM refers to a long-term management philosophy that helps the organizations to identify and eliminate waste through CI and respect for people (Liker, 2004;Klein et al, 2022); TQM refers to a management philosophy which builds its objective of organizational effectiveness on the following interconnected factors: quality, people, organizations and management (Lepist€ o et al, 2022); SCM is the relationship management from upstream to downstream or from suppliers to consumers to provide more value to customers and reduce supply chain costs (Hwihanus et al, 2022); IM is the operationalization of creative potential with a commercial and social motive by implementing new adaptive solutions that create value, harness new technology or invention, contribute to competitive advantage and economic growth (Singh and Aggarwal, 2022); LSS is a powerful methodology or strategy which promoting quality improvement to achieve organization's operational excellence, waste reduction and process improvements (Daniyan et al, 2022). From this perspective, synthesizing these paradigms into an integrated framework results in the combination of the best of the five programs as the latest generation improvement technique which IJQRM 40,10 integrates human and strategic (or technical) elements into a program that sequences improvement to an overall approach for industrial performance and business growth.…”

“…The integrated approach of the Japanese “Kaizen”, which was translated in the western culture as “continuous improvement (CI)” (Imai, 1986; Berger, 1997) is new requirement for enhancing competitiveness (Hailu et al , 2018a). To this influence, Lean Management (LM), Total Quality Management (TQM), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Innovation Management (IM) and Lean Six Sigma (LSS) have been adopted as imperative tools for the implementation of CI criteria, and therefore, a means for manufacturing industries to maintain their competitive advantage (Cua et al , 2001; Nandurkar et al , 2014; Zhou, 2016; Cherrafi et al , 2017, 2018; Duarte and Cruz-Machado, 2019; Dametew et al , 2020; Daniyan et al , 2022; Singh and Aggarwal, 2022; Hwihanus et al , 2022; Lepistö et al , 2022; Klein et al , 2022). The joint implementation of the aforementioned initiatives is seen as a natural alignment through their similar operations management approach (Nandurkar et al , 2014; Hailu et al , 2018a; Sisay et al , 2021).…”